OpenAI says ChatGPT ads can be ‘additive’ if done right

By Anu Adegbola

Published: February 25, 2026 at 1:32 pm

The U.S. ad rollout of ChatGPT ads is “iterative,” according to OpenAI’s COO. The early-stage push to monetize ChatGPT’s massive free user base will evolve gradually as the company works to refine the model without eroding user trust.

What OpenAI says. Speaking at the India AI summit, COO Brad Lightcap described the rollout as “iterative,” emphasizing user trust and privacy, TechCrunch reported.

Lightcap said ads, if done right, can be “additive” to the product experience — but acknowledged the company is still in early testing and will need time to refine the model.

Catch up quick. OpenAI started introducing ads to free and Go-tier users of ChatGPT in the U.S., marking a significant shift in its monetization strategy.

CEO Sam Altman recently sparred publicly with Anthropic over its Super Bowl ad campaign, defending OpenAI’s commitment to broad, free AI access. He argued that scale creates a “differently-shaped problem” for OpenAI compared to rivals with smaller user bases.
Reports suggest OpenAI is charging premium rates — as high as $60 CPM — with minimum commitments reportedly starting around $200,000.
Partners like Shopify are enabling merchants to advertise in ChatGPT through Shop Campaigns, alongside early testers such as Target and Adobe.

Bottom line. Ads are now part of ChatGPT’s future. Stay tuned to see whether OpenAI can monetize without compromising the product experience that fuelled its growth.

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Adobe Advertising Anthropic Artificial intelligence ChatGPT Monetization OpenAI Sam Altman Shopify Super Bowl Target Corporation TechCrunch United States

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About the author

Anu Adegbola

Paid Media News Editor, Search Engine Land

Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.

In 2008, Anu started her career delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side. Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event - PPC Live and host of weekly podcast PPC Live The Podcast.

She is also an international speaker with some of the stages she has presented on being SMX (US, UK, Munich, Berlin), Friends of Search (Amsterdam, NL), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna, IT) and more.